ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition Fanless GPU

The ZOTAC GeForce GT 640 ZONE Edition is 18.4 cm long measured from the edge of the PCB at the rear panel to the far edge of the heatsink. It weighs 340 grams with the heatsink accounting for 220 grams of the total.

The visible portion of the heatsink consists of 3 x 6 mm copper heatpipes and a substantial stack of aluminum fins approximately 0.36 mm thick and spaced 2.57 mm apart on average. The fins wrap around the edge of the PCB, increasing its length from 14.5 cm to 18.4 cm.

The heatpipes also protrude outward making it 2.8 cm wider than normal. This makes it incompatible with slimmer cases that have just enough space for a full profile graphics card.

Though it's a two slot card, the heatsink doesn't fill up the entire allocated space. Passive coolers need breathing room.

There are three display outputs at the back, one mini-HDMI, one DVI-D, and one DVI-I. A DVI-I to VGA dongle is included but a mini-HDMI adapter was omitted from the package.

Getting under the hood is a simple matter of removing the four spring-loaded screws around the GPU core. The core has a shim surrounding it to protect from over-tightening the heatsink but there are also four rubber pads on each side as a further preventative measure.

Heat is transferred from the GPU core through thick thermal compound to a large, flat copper base soldered to the heatpipes.